Every year, there’s plenty of speculation regarding the first coach to be fired during the season.
This year, none have been terminated. Yet.
With the end of the season only four weeks away, it’s starting to look like perhaps none will be fired during the season. And it’s possible that owners have realized that the appointment of an interim head coach can trigger an artificial increase in the team’s performance, with players playing hard for the interim head coach because the players are, in reality, playing hard for themselves. Then, after they help the interim head coach earn the job going forward, they can go back to playing the way they did to help get the last coach fired.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the Chargers have not fired coach Norv Turner. With both Turner and G.M. A.J. Smith both expected to be fired if (when) the Chargers fail to qualify for the postseason, Smith arguably should have shaken things up in the hopes of saving his own job.
But maybe owner Dean Spanos has decided not to let Smith make a change because Spanos sees this as an opportunity to hit the proverbial reset button after the season via the hiring of a new front office and coaching staff.
Either way, it looks like the hot seats will remain hot until December 31, at which time the inevitable changes will commence.
And, of course, by posting this I’ve likely guaranteed that a head coach will be fired today.
